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What kind of desktop environments or shells are there for Ubuntu users to install?

Please list a desktop environment or shell for each:

a description on why you like or suggest it (features, performance, etc.).

a good screenshot, preferably of it running on Ubuntu and showing off some of its features.

the minimal requirement for it to be usable, If there's any setting to lower it's requirement (Like kde's low-fat profile); how to enable the said setting

some instructions on how to set it up if in the repositories, please provide a software centre link

is this the full list? Does the answers cover all of the desktop environments?
– Mina MichaelFeb 16 '14 at 20:13

@MinaMichael Not the entire list but.. it's a lot :) You can contribute if you know of any other desktop environments :)?
– Amith KKFeb 17 '14 at 4:54

It should be noted that this list just a list of desktop environments (since that what the question asked). It is also possible to go "old school" and run a window manager (e.g. twm, fvwm and others) without any desktop environment. This approach, however, is probably not appropriate for non-experts because configuration typically involves manually editing configuration files without the help of GUI tools.
– David C.Dec 4 '15 at 18:33

By default, windows cannot be minimized in GNOME Shell, as the use of Activities Overview and Workspaces are supposed to replace that. This could need some getting used to at first. Or alternatively, you can use the GNOME Tweak Tool to enable the minimize window button.

GNOME Shell uses automatic workspace management; at any given moment, it only keeps open as many workspaces as you have active windows on, plus an extra empty one to start more windows. When you remove all the windows from a workspace, that workspace will be removed until you need it again. Alternatively, you can use the GNOME Tweak Tool to set a static number of workspaces.

How To Get It?

Before 17.10, Ubuntu GNOME was an Ubuntu flavour that had a full blown GNOME desktop environment installed and used by default. This is the recommended method to get GNOME Shell installed in Ubuntu, if you don't plan to use Unity, KDE or any other desktop environment. With 17.10 onwards, the default Ubuntu installation uses GNOME Shell with an Ubuntu theme and dock. A vanilla GNOME Shell can be installed using the vanilla-gnome-desktop package.

GNOME Shell is available in the official Ubuntu repositories. To install it on an existing install, click here:

Or run this in Terminal:

sudo apt install gnome-shell

Or if you prefer the GUI way, search for "gnome shell" in GNOME Software (or Ubuntu Software Center in older Ubuntu versions) and install the gnome-shell package. More instructions on how to install it can be found here. (The complete package including settings, etc, is found in the package ubuntu-gnome-desktop).

One of the reasons is that GNOME 3 was in development when Unity was launched. Plus, the direction that Unity takes is sometimes very different from that of GNOME. Its ultimately down to the Ubuntu devs decision.
– NemoMay 13 '15 at 5:54

Founded in 2010, the Unity project started by Mark Shuttleworth and Canonical has gone on to deliver a consistent user experience for desktop and netbook users alike. Putting great design at the heart of the project, Unity and its technologies such as Application indicators, System indicators, and Notify OSD, have strived to solve common problems in the Free Software desktop while optimizing the experience for touch, consistency and collaboration.

Features

The Launcher is one of the key components of Unity desktop. It keeps track of currently-running applications and lets you pin your favorite applications for easy access.

The Dash allows you to search for applications, files, music, and videos, and shows you items that you have used recently. It can be launched by either clicking the 'Ubuntu Button' in Launcher or by pressing the Super key.

You can quickly switch to any open window with Super+1/2/3/.../9. This is especially handy if you often switch among the same few apps, e.g. a browser, a file manager and an editor, but also have other apps open, so Alt+Tabbing to the desired window would take more time.

The topbar (known as Unity Panel) provides application and system indicators on the right corner. Unity Panel has a unique feature when compared to other desktops: it absorbs and integrates the titlebar and menubar of maximized apps, thereby freeing more vertical space for displaying useful content.

A global menu, similar to that used in Mac OS X, shows the application menu in Unity Panel. You can reveal the menu by hovering mouse over the left portion of Unity Panel, or by holding Alt. Alternatively, you can enable Locally Integrated Menus (LIM) to move the application menu into window titlebar.

The HUD is another unique feature of Unity. Hit Alt key to launch it and search for application menu items easily. Very useful for working with menu heavy apps like office suites, image editors, graphics tools, etc.

System Requirements

Unity Shell requires a 3D graphics card and hardware acceleration to run. However, it does have a 'low graphics mode' to run on less powerful hardware. See How do I know if my video card can run Unity? to determine whether your hardware can support Unity.

How To Get It?

Unity is the interface shipped with the main Ubuntu flavor.
So, the recommended way to get Unity is to download and try the installation image from Ubuntu official website. However, if you are running a flavor of Ubuntu with a different desktop, you can still easily install it by clicking here:

Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly. It comes with various additional apps and panel plug-ins which greatly enhance the functionality of the DE.

How to get it

Click this link to install the XFCE package. You can also find it in the Ubuntu Software Center, or type in a terminal:

The favourite of mine. Despite the fact it is meant to be "lightweight", Gnome (2) and KDE (4) have always seemed faster and more stable for me, but I still prefer XFCE for the rest of what I get from it.
– IvanNov 13 '11 at 20:25

@Ivan I have found Xfce to run faster than newer versions of Gnome and KDE on aging hardware (it seems to demand less resources).
– TomJan 20 '15 at 16:41

2

This is the one I use. I prefer my desktop to be as minimal as possible. I used fvwm for a long time, but it doesn't have drive-icons on the desktop, which are really necessary when using USB-based storage (since the /dev name for such media often changes). Xfce gives me my drive icons but still maintains a minimal and lightweight desktop.
– David C.Dec 4 '15 at 18:25

I like xfce but I am not using it. It have many bugs for example unmute problem.
– KrzysiekAug 2 '16 at 16:14

System Requirements

KDE is no lightweight system. It has similar requirements to Unity 3D but there is a "low-fat" setting for older systems.

How To Get It?

Ubuntu has an KDE Plasma flavor called Kubuntu. So, the recommended method to get Plasma desktop on Ubuntu is to download Kubuntu and liveboot or install it.

In case you're already running an Ubuntu flavor and wish to switch your system to Kubuntu desktop flavor, you can install the kubuntu-desktop package available in Ubuntu repository. To do so, click here:

Or run this command in Terminal:

sudo apt install kubuntu-desktop

You can just install plasma-desktop instead of switching your *buntu flavor.

The best desktop environment which gives more 'freedom' than gnome! And what the heck you can even customize every inch of KDE unlike Gnome shell...
– RaviFeb 16 '13 at 7:47

I've used different desktops in parallel and I've found something I was not expecting: KDE4 feels lighter than Unity, and even than Xfce (the latop fan is even less heard)
– user47206Sep 18 '15 at 12:07

i think this answer could be made more awesome with better explanation of what plasma is, what the difference between kubuntu-desktop vs plastma-desktop is.
– ahnbizcadDec 24 '17 at 20:09

I notice I can't type into the start menu to find programs. It is really slow to navigate by "category" since things are SO ambiguous, is "calculator" a "system tool", a "office" program, a "productivity utility", etc etc etc... I have NO idea how to find programs in Lubuntu
– JonathanJun 10 '18 at 19:34

It might be worth mentioning that Cinnamon is the default desktop in Linux Mint. If you're thinking of installing Cinnamon on Ubuntu, you might want to check out Linux Mint, an Ubuntu derivative, instead.
– TonyApr 18 '13 at 13:41

3

@Tony - if you do go this route ... I'm afraid all further questions on this particular stackexchange site would be off-topic. Linux Mint questions though would be on-topic at unix.stackexchange.com
– fossfreedom♦Apr 18 '13 at 13:43

@fossfreedom LM (excluding LMDE) is - technically, but not legally - Ubuntu with 3rd-party repos and packages activated and installed by default. Aside from the DE, and a few other packages, it uses the exact same repos and packages as the corresponding Ubuntu version. If a LM user has a question on something LM did not change, like a Ubuntu-maintained package, would that be on-topic here? If not, does that mean if a user's Ubuntu has been tainted with 3rd party packages, they too cannot get support here?
– Jonathan BaldwinDec 25 '13 at 21:57

@JonathanBaldwin - cinnamon via the packages in the universe repository or via the launchpad PPA are on-topic. However, linux mint the distro is much more than just PPA's and has fundamental differences from the official 'buntu based repos. The community has decided that because of this, linux mint and similar are off-topic - this meta covers this decision. meta.askubuntu.com/questions/684/…
– fossfreedom♦Dec 25 '13 at 22:27

1

@JonathanBaldwin - we are getting into conversation territory - please raise this as a Meta question or pop into the general chat room to discuss further.
– fossfreedom♦Dec 28 '13 at 8:28

MATE is a fork of GNOME 2 created when GNOME 3 was announced and some users wanted to keep the traditional GNOME 2 interface going. It aims to be as close to traditional GNOME 2 interface as possible. The project is now primarily supported by the official Ubuntu MATE spin (pictured above) since 14.04.

Features

MATE is derived from and strives to remain as close to the traditional GNOME 2 desktop environment as possible. It caters specifically to those who do not like the new desktop metaphors introduced by Unity and GNOME Shell, yet do not want to switch to a different DE.

All conflicts between MATE and GNOME were resolved as of the 1.2 release, so that both DEs can be installed on the same system if one desires.

System Requirements

As MATE is extremely similar to the GNOME 2 it is based upon, it should have similar hardware requirements. Computers which could run Ubuntu 11.04 or previous in a GNOME 2 session should also be able to handle MATE. For example, it will not need 3D graphics support like Unity or GNOME Shell do. Additionally, you may want to look at this Linux Mint Forums post.

How To Get It

The easiest way to get a fully-supported MATE DE for an official Ubuntu spin is to use Ubuntu MATE. Download the .iso file from the "Download" page and use it to create a LiveUSB/DVD.

If you want to install MATE on a pre-existing regular Ubuntu setup, see How do I install MATE (the desktop environment)? for information on installation. Note that there are multiple ways to install it; some involve adding Linux Mint repositories and could potentially cause problems.

Pantheon is the desktop shell made for use in elementary OS Luna and later. It can also be set up for use in Ubuntu, however.

Features

The top panel is called the WingPanel. It's similar to a mix between the GNOME 2 and GNOME Shell panels.

Slingshot is the application launcher Pantheon uses.

Pantheon Wallpaper is used to manage the desktop wallpaper instead of Nautilus.

Plank is the new version of Docky, rewritten to use Vala instead of Mono. It sits at the bottom of the screen to act as a dock.

Cerebere is a program that sits in the background and oversees the operation of all the other components, restarting them as necessary if they crash.

Pantheon is designed to be lightweight and modular. You can pick and choose which components you want to use, replacing with with others as you see fit.

System Requirements

elementary OS Jupiter used GNOME 2 and an early version of the Plank. The elementary OS Luna release switched to GNOME 3 and Pantheon, and is supposed to be more lightweight. A machine that can comfortably run Ubuntu should have no problem handling Pantheon.

The elementary project has a Technical Specifications page in its user guide for elementary OS, which provides more information suggesting what is needed to ensure Pantheon runs smoothly.

GNOME Flashback (Ubuntu Classic/GNOME Panel)

This is the basic or classic GNOME desktop, ported to use the new GTK3 and other modern technologies (the integration with GTK3 and other technologies is the key difference between GNOME Flashback and MATE). GNOME Flashback is the same desktop environment that was used in earlier versions of Ubuntu (Ubuntu 10.10 and earlier). But like everything else, there's been improvements in the new version.

Why use it today? Because it isn't a '3D' desktop environment like Unity, GNOME Shell or KDE and so it runs faster on older hardware. It's also a very efficient install on standard Ubuntu, there are few dependencies different to Unity and it won't pull in many extra applications. In short, if you want a pure 'Ubuntu' experience without the Unity, use GNOME Flashback.

Features (comparison to GNOME 2)

It still has the classic menu, but the System menu is gone since we now use the System Settings panel.

It can be customized the same way that Gnome Panel 2 was customized, except that you need to press and hold Alt while doing so.

It has all the same features that we previously had, but with fixes to make it more stable and useful: applets are grouped to the left, center or right, so applets never get shuffled, like in Gnome Panel 2. And the switch to GTK3 means much better support for vertical panels.

How to get it?

GNOME Flashback is available in the official Ubuntu repositories. To install it on an existing install, click here:

Or you can use this command in Terminal: sudo apt install gnome-session-flashback

Awesome

Features

Awesome is a desktop environment which masquerades as a window manager. By default, it comes with a basic top panel with a systray that can hold your favorite applets from Gnome, Xfce, etc. There are several well-known "widget" libraries which extend Awesome's basic functionality.

Awesome is a tiling window manager, which means that it can automatically arrange windows without overlapping and so that they fill up the screen. Windows can also be made to "float" (the standard behavior in Windows, OS X, etc.)

Awesome's tiling features have the following benefits:

No wasted screen space.

You don't have to fiddle around with the mouse/trackpad to arrange windows in a desired arrangement.

Built-in tiling layouts cover frequent scenarios that arise.

Tiling arrangements are easily scripted and can be invoked dynamically through keybindings.

Mouse support is built-in throughout. For those that rely heavily on a mouse, this may help ease the transition from the typical floating window managers.

Awesome was designed to be highly customizable (see configuration section) and is particularly popular amongst "power users" who want a great deal of control over their desktop environment (Awesome has a strong following in the Arch Linux community, for example).

System requirements

Awesome is very lightweight. The Zenix distro uses it and can run with as little as 128MB of RAM (only 64MB with swap partition). On my system, I found it used less resources than LXDE! Awesome does not do compositing or any effects, so is useful for systems with older graphics (compositing can be enabled by using xcompmgr, etc.)

Installation

Installing Awesome is simple. Simply type sudo apt-get install awesome in the terminal to install Awesome from the Ubuntu repositories. The install will include an Awesome session in the login manager, Lightdm. Starting Awesome this way will avoid many headaches over configuring it to work with your wireless, display, etc.

Configuration

Awesome is configured via an external configuration file written in Lua (~/.config/awesome/rc.lua). Knowledge of Lua is not required and a lot can be done with simple extensions and modifications of the default rc.lua (/etc/xdg/awesome/rc.lua). Autostarting apps is simple: just add the appropriate "spawn" command at the end of your rc.lua, e.g. awful.util.spawn_with_shell("conky &") will run conky.

Regarding the two screenshots -- in the 'clean' version, the top panel is the default with five tags (or "workspaces") on the left and various vicious widgets running on on the right. nm-applet and pidgin are in the systray area. The bottom 'panel' is actually conky. In the 'dirty' version, conky is displaying track info from gmusicbrowser, the windows are tiled (with one Firefox window minimized to the tasklist area), and Gnome Do is floating in center.

“Awesome” is not intuitive and comes with limited documentation (on Ubuntu at least). – Within hours I ended up with with two full-screen windows (browser windows actually) on one screen with no simple way to switch between them (<Mod4>-j/k didn’t do it.)
– Robert SiemerApr 30 '14 at 12:59

i3wm (improved tiling wm), is a dynamic, and tiling window manager. It is one of the simplest and cleanest tiling window manager, which keeps emphasis on simplicity, both of the code and configuration.

Features

Well documented code.

Multi monitor support.

UTF-8 support.

Simple configuration (no programming language used)

Window management completely left for the user. Which means the user is free to try out different layouts dynamically.

Better handling of floating popups (most of the password, and other notifications doesn't show as tiles)

Different modes like in vim

IPC (using unix sockets) for extensibility.

Extras

great user support using the mailing list, IRC, and faq.

notification daemon (dunst), and j4status for more customization (from j4tools)

QTile is a window manager written entirely in Python. It's highly configurable using the Python language, and you can script it to do mostly whatever you feel like. As the name implies, it's a tiling window manager, which means you get a highly organized desktop.

Could you please include a description of why its good?
– N.N.Mar 14 '12 at 18:05

I concur with N.N. here. It would be good if the "Features/System Requirements/How To Get It" sections like those in posts further above were added for better consistency with the desired style of this list.
– Christopher Kyle HortonMar 15 '12 at 4:32

This is not a applicable DE or Shell, its a OS of its own. It uses Xfce and like @WarriorIng64 said, It is already covered
– Amith KKOct 17 '11 at 12:45

Mythbuntu is it's own OS, but so are Xubuntu and Kubuntu (both of which are covered above). It presents it's own "shell" on using the computer. But I don't think it is what the original question answer was looking for.
– 8128Oct 23 '11 at 13:10

1

I would like to correct myself: it does appear you can apply it to Ubuntu, as a mythbuntu-desktop package exists in the Software Center. Editing to reflect that.
– Christopher Kyle HortonOct 24 '11 at 4:58

What about XBMC? There is XBMC xsession in lightdm when it's installed.
– wrzomarJul 5 '13 at 18:57

Unity 8 (or Unity Next) is the interface used in Ubuntu Touch (for phones and tablets), and was planned to eventually replace Unity 7 with a new desktop mode. It was under heavy development, but around the time of Ubuntu 17.04 it was discontinued.

Features

Compiz is dropped in favor of Qt, which should offer a more lightweight and smoother experience.

Similarly, Mir is favored over Wayland and the traditional X11 server.

A redesigned approach to scopes, lenses, the dash, etc.

A focus on convergence, meaning the same DE can be used on all form factors (phone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer), modifying itself to suit the situation.

An interface which places heavy emphasis on edge swiping for revealing the launcher, indicator menus, app switcher, and app menus.

How to get it

Note: Unity 8 is not considered ready for the desktop, and further development on it by Canonical has been canceled. Obviously, bugs will be present, but also some parts may need to be optimized or added to better facilitate use with a mouse and keyboard.

If you still want to try it out, a daily build for the "Ubuntu Next" desktop is available for download. You can use it to create a LiveUSB/DVD like a regular image. If you get a terminal complaining about the image not being COM32 or similar when trying to boot from the live media, you can work around this by pressing Tab and entering either live or live-install (as seen from "Not a COM32R image" error when trying to install from a USB key ).

If you already have regular Ubuntu installed, you could also see How to install Unity 8? for installation instructions, or click the button below:

Discontinuation note

Unity 8 was discontinued around the time of Ubuntu 17.04's release, along with Ubuntu Touch for phones and tablets. The cancellation announcement by Mark Shuttleworth can be read here, and states that the reason was to better focus Ubuntu's continued development on cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms. As such, users should be made aware that no further development of Unity 8 will be done by Canonical, and they should consider switching back to Unity 7 or another desktop environment (such as GNOME Shell, which will replace Unity 7 as the default desktop environment for regular Ubuntu by 18.04 LTS).

Deepin uses its own purpose-built desktop environment which is integrated with other first party applications, like Deepin Music, Deepin Movie, Deepin Store, and its own Control Center.

Community members have played a participatory role throughout development, both in China and internationally, and operate with the motto "Freedom, Openness, Sharing, Cooperation".The community also works with upstream Debian with the translation of documents into Chinese

If you too want to install it then open your terminal and type as

sudo -H gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

Then add deb lines like these at the end of the opened file, possibly replacing trusty with the codename of another Ubuntu release (but don't make any other changes):

Currently the repository has versions for trusty (Ubuntu 14.04 LTS) and precise (Ubuntu 12.04 LTS). You can browse the repository to see what releases are supported, when you install. To find the codename for your Ubuntu release, see the Releases wiki page or run lsb_release -c. If no version is available specifically for your release, you can try the version built for another release (pick one close to yours if possible).

After adding the appropriate lines, save the file, quit the text editor, and return to the terminal.

How to install it in Ubuntu 12.04? I tried to change raring in this line : deb http://packages.linuxdeepin.com/deepin raring main non-free universe and the other to precise but it didn't work. Would you please guide me how to do?
– Saurav KumarOct 10 '13 at 13:59

System Requirements

How To Get It?

17.04 and later

The best way to get Budgie desktop on Ubuntu is to try the official flavor Ubuntu Budgie. However, if you wish to install it on an existing install of Ubuntu or one of it's flavors, the whole Budgie Desktop Environment for Ubuntu Budgie can be installed by clicking here:

Or run this in Terminal:

sudo apt install ubuntu-budgie-desktop

16.10

From 16.10 onwards, Budgie Desktop v10.2.7 is available directly from Ubuntu repositories. To install, click here:

Or run this in Terminal:

sudo apt install budgie-desktop

16.04

Try the unofficial flavor budgie-remix, or you may install it on an existing install of Ubuntu 16.04LTS or one of it's flavors using the budgie-remix PPA:

subtle is a manual tiling window manager with a rather uncommon approach of tiling: Instead of relying on predefined layouts, subtle divides the screen into a grid with customizeable slots (called gravities).

LXQt (in development)

It will not get in your way. It will not hang or slow down your system. It is focused on being a classic desktop with a modern look and feel.

LXQt has already been included in most Linux and BSD distributions so you may just try it out on your regular system or in a VM.
More information about installing can be found in the LXQt GitHub wiki.

Historically, LXQt is the product of the merge between LXDE-Qt, an initial Qt flavour of LXDE, and Razor-qt, a project aiming to develop a Qt based desktop environment with similar objectives as the current LXQt.
LXQt was first supposed to become the successor of LXDE one day but as of 09/2016 both desktop environments will keep coexisting for the time being.

Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.
The box visual style is well known for its minimalistic appearance. Openbox uses the box visual style, while providing a greater number of options for theme developers than previous box implementations.

Openbox is a highly configurable window manager. It allows you to change almost every aspect of how you interact with your desktop and invent completely new ways to use and control it. It can be like a video game for controlling windows. But Openbox can also be kept extremely simple, as it is in the default setup, meaning that it can suit just about anybody. Openbox gives you control without making you do everything.

It is developed with GNOME and K desktop applications in mind, you can combine their ease and functionality with the power of Openbox.

Xmonad is a tiling window manager written entirely in Haskell. It's highly configurable using the Haskell language, and you can program it to do pretty much anything you would like it to do. As it is a tiling manager, it automatically makes full use of the screen when opening application windows. There are many available window layout heuristics already available and workspaces can be individually configured to cycle through any group of configuration patterns.

The screenshot shows Xmonad working with two Xmobar status bars. The upper bar has been customised to use a different icon for each of the 14 workspaces I regularly use, an icon to bring up a guake like terminal, an icon indicating the current workspace tiling heuristic, active window title, and other dynamic info. On the far upper right, a trayer system tray is displayed. The lower Xmobar displays various items of system information. xcompmgr has been used to reduce opacity of unfocused windows. There is a very good support network among Xmonad users and developers.

Workspace and window management and navigation is largely by keyboard shortcuts, though it is quite possible to configure the interface to respond to mouse events.

As a personal recommendation - I have used Xmonad for five years, developing it from a minimal configuration to a very personal configuration throughout that time. It has become a very efficient interface and on the occasions I have to return to regular window managers I find them utterly inert and unresponsive.

How to get it

Packages are available for on the ubuntu repository. Probably wise to install xmobar and trayer too.

The Lumina® Desktop Environment is a lightweight system interface designed for use on any Unix-like operating system. Lumina® is based on using plugins, which allows the entire interface to be arranged by each individual user as desired. A system wide default layout is also included, and is configurable by the system administrator. This allows every system (or user session) to be designed to maximize the individual user's productivity.

The Lumina® desktop developers understand that the point of a computer system is to run applications, so Lumina® was designed to require as few system dependencies/requirements as possible. This allows it to be used to revitalize older systems or to allow the user to run applications that may need a higher percentage of the system resources than were previously available with other desktop environments.

All of this results in a very lightweight, customizable, and smooth desktop experience with minimal system overhead.

This answer needs information about its features, system requirements, and how to install it on Ubuntu. A link to the Maui project on its own is not sufficient.
– Christopher Kyle HortonMar 27 '15 at 6:29

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